Prowler: An Overwatch Fanfiction
by LoxtonLegend
Summary: A story of one of the greatest Overwatch soldiers in their history, long thought to be dead.
1. Chapter 1

Prowler walked slowly through the heat, hearing the sound of the shoreline not too far ahead of him. He savored feel the wind blowing through his long, blonde beard and hair. With his right eye, the only one he didn't have covered by an eyepatch, he saw a familiarity, like the sight of seeing your home from afar after a long journey. He could see a guard checkpoint, and knew what it was. He immediately ran toward it, and collapsed once he got to the chain link fence. He looked inside the small checkpoint office. Nobody was there. He looked around and found a sign post knocked over. He picked it up and planted it where it belonged. It had a depiction of an Owl and from top to bottom, it read Overwatch Wilderness League (Owl). Prowler knew where he was, about 25 miles east of Watchpoint: Gibraltar. He needed to get in, he mustered all his strength left, and hopped the 8 foot tall fence. On the top of the fence, he realized that he was climbing an electric fence, but wasn't getting shocked, even with his prosthetic left, Omnic hand. He climbed over the fence and fell down the other side. He struggled to get up, he had little fight left in him, but he just needed to keep going, one foot in front of the other. He was met with a path that lead down to the shoreline. He got up and kept on walking. After about 10 minutes, he saw the camp, but not as he had remembered it. To his left was what was left of a helipad and Control center. Only a single crashed chopper laid on the asphalt, out of the supposedly eight there were supposed to be. The antennae and satellites on the concrete control building were all destroyed. In front of him, a vast beach with little evidence that a training ground had ever existed there. To his right, pieces of ripped up tents where the Owls once stayed. He once again mustered his strength and headed toward the control building in search of food and water. He made a painful walk, and once he got there, he almost broke down. The ID scanner on the automatic door didn't have any power running though it, and it was the only way in or out. "No food, no water…" he thought. He sat against the door for a bit, got up, and started walking towards the beach. He walked along the soft sand in his combat boots, and felt something solid beneath his foot. He moved his boot and found an Owl coin that all owls carried with them into battle. The owl on it consisted of the Overwatch logo, flipped upside down and given eyes and ears to resemble an owl head, a W for the body, and two mirroring Ls for the feet and wings on the side. The coin was well beat up, eroded and corroded. Prowler thought. He walked into the tide and sat down, and when it came in, he could feel the salty, sandy water rushing through his desert attire. He laid on his back, looked up at the sun, and knew. "I've lived for this long, now it's time." He said out loud. He closed his eyes and began to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The night was dark, stormy, and wet. "Could there be a worse job than to guard the gate on a night like this?" Thought the soldier at the Owl checkpoint. He could only stand still holding a rifle in the cold, wet night for so long without complaining. The wind blew so hard, the Owl sign fell down. "Ugh, stupid…" The soldier went mumbling to himself trying to fix it when a hovering combat off-roader came strolling by. It rolled up to the checkpoint and stopped. The soldier recognized the soldier in the driver's seat, and could see that the other three soldiers were Owls, all under rain ponchos. "Oh, evening commander, let me get that gate for you." The soldier waved to another guard inside the outpost and enjoying the warmth, signaling him to open the gate. Once the gate opened, the vehicle moved forward toward the camp. When it came to it, turned onto the helipad and parked near the control center. Another man in a wheel chair rolled out of the building next to several Owls all in desert clothing, like they were about to hit the slopes. "Prowler!" He yelled in a British Accent. The driver got out of the vehicle and walked over to him. "Sorry I'm late Miller." He said as he took off his hood. Prowler had long blonde hair, but not much longer than a mullet. "I was a bit busy sealing the deal with Morrison. You got the team I see?" Prowler looked at the group of Owls in desert fatigues. "Yes, I've got everything you need, anything else we need checked off?" Asked Miller. Prowler looked over at the team. "I trust that everybody has everything they need packed with the cargo shuttle?" Prowler took off his poncho revealing his own desert camouflage and gear. Henry Miller was a brown haired and curly mustached Owl Captain, who had been part of the SAS until he met Prowler on a mission and lost his nerves beneath his waist, where he became a drill sergeant and Intel captain, where he'd keep track of radars, comms, soldiers and other intel for missions. Prowler walked up to Miller and looked at his legs. "Are you sure you're fine like that? I heard from an Owl that there's an Overwatch doctor who was able to revive a man near dead and restored his limbs. What's stopping you." Said Prowler. Miller looked down at his own legs. "Prowler, you know I'm not like you, I dread the sounds of the combat zone since Grande Escolta. I do not wish to go back." Said Miller. "So why'd you stick with this?" Asked Prowler. "Because like you, I still enjoy being a hero." said Miller. "You can still get your legs back, it would be a bit more efficient around the base." "Yes, but all that would be is temptation." Prowler chuckled. "Well, good luck to you then." Said Miller as he rolled back into the control center. "Let's move!" Yelled Prowler. All the soldiers ran to a ready shuttle, which, like them, bore no Overwatch emblem. Prowler filed into it and sat next to an Omnic Owl. "How you doing Fernando?" Asked Prowler. The omnic was dressed much like the other Owls, but had a metal goatee, and black, metal hair in a style similar to Prowler's "Ready for anything Amigo." Fernando Said in a Spanish Accent. A man on the ground was leading the shuttle off the ground and it headed south out to sea.


	3. Chapter 3

Prowler awoke his eyes to a blinding light. "Well, looks like I made it." He thought, thinking he was finally going to Heaven. But his vision improved in his eye. And he realized where he actually was. He was laying in a hospital bed under a lamp. He could hear beeping going along with his heartbeat on a nearby monitor. He felt the pressure of having an IV in his right arm, as well as an odd sensation. Originally, he had his left hand replaced with an omnic prosthetic that he could use via a rope system attached to his right shoulder. Now, he had an actual metal hand, one that resembled a real hand, that moved with ease, and he could feel his nerves rushing through it. It's almost like he had never lost it. His eyepatch was removed, but he could still only see through his right eye, it didn't seem like he had an eye replacement, nor did he think once existed. He looked around more, he saw nobody else in any other beds around, and the Overwatch emblem on the floor. He was in the med-bay of Watchpoint: Gibraltar. "Back here, finally." He thought It was a relief yet surprise that he wasn't dead. "Well, down side is is that if word gets to talon that I'm alive, I may as well be dead, as well and everybody, or anybody, else in the Watchpoint" he thought. The door opened. A woman with light blond hair in a ponytail walked in with a doctor's coat. "Ah, you're awake." She said with a Swiss accent. Prowler looked at her, and immediately recognized her. It was Dr. Angela "Mercy" Ziegler. "You like the hand? Nothing much dear, just a spare we had lying around." She said. Prowler simply stared at her, kind of awkwardly, he didn't know what to say. "You going to say something?" She asked. "Where's the other one?" He asked. "Huh?" "Where is it?" Prowler Said, in a more angry tone. "That hand means more than you could know to me, where is it?" He yelled. "I…I put it in a locker, evidence, safekeeping, you know." He looked at her with a bit more anger. "I can put it back on." Said Ziegler. Prowler laid back a little. Ziegler began writing down things in her clipboard. Prowler imagines she was writing "Brain damage: High. "What happened?" Asked Prowler. "Oh, you were found half dead on the beach, dehydrated, starving, overheated. If Lena had found you an hour later, you wouldn't have made it. Do you remember anything else? A ship sinking perhaps?" Prowler stayed silent for a minute. "Anything?" Asked Ziegler. "Oxton?" Asked Prowler. Ziegler had a very confused and worried look on her face. "H-how did you…" She started. She was worried that Prowler was somebody who knew something he shouldn't have. "I worked with her. And you Angela. I was in Overwatch." Said Prowler. "Huh, that explains the Terminal we found on you." Said Ziegler. That caught Prowler's attention. "Where is it now?" Asked Prowler. "Oh, it's in the lab, Winston's fixing it up." Said Ziegler. Prowler rested a little easier. "You got a burger? I haven't had one in years." Ziegler pretty much ignored the question. "So tell me, what's your experience with Overwatch. How do you know me and Tracer?" Asked Ziegler. Prowler knew this wasn't a medical interview anymore, it was an interrogation. "The first time I worked with you two was during the King's Row uprising.


	4. Chapter 4

An Overwatch Drop ship was flying into London. Prowler was in a jumpsuit ready to do a Halo jump into the city. Miller went over his radio. "Owl chopper on standby, sub-Zion transport in position, intel in place, everything's set Prowler." Then Strike Commander Morrison spoke. "Great, the Strike team just took down the last Anti Air Defense cannon. We're ready to drop the bomb, as well as yourself Prowler." "Roger, setting Chopper en route to King's Row." Said Miller. "Let's roll." Said Prowler. The ramp of the cabin began to open, revealing the destruction of London below it. The lights flashed red around him. "Standby." Said Morrison. The lights then flashed Green. "Go, go, go." Said Morrison. Prowler ran down the ramp and swan jumped into the air, nose dived down and then deployed his parachute. He glided to the ground and landed on a building close to the clock tower, skidding across the rooftop until he came to a sudden stop at the roof's half wall. "Prowler, you have your orders, I'll keep Miller informed, but my main focus is the strike team, stay safe. Morrison out." Prowler stood up as he saw the Overwatch bomb, designed and built by Torbjorn Lindholm, fell to the ground. He took off his Oxygen helmet and went to look at where it landed with his scope. He saw Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Torbjorn Lindholm, and Reinhardt Wilhelm. "Strike team and bomb in sight." Said Prowler. "Perfect… now." Miller paused. "Prowler, Null sector, on your six." Prowler turned around, seeing several troopers landing on top of the roof, ready to fire.


	5. Chapter 5

It was 1700 at the Owl camp, the sunset over the sea was an absolute sensation, though many would say the Owls training in CQB on the shore would ruin it. Prowler and Fernando were off to the side, monitoring the training. Prowler got a ring from his Terminal. He pulled it out, Miller came on the radio. "Prowler, we got something from Morrison, come to the control center." Said Miller. "On my way." Said Prowler. He left the Owls to Fernando and ran up to the control center. He walked in, where Miller and several intel operators were waiting. Almost immediately, a radio call from Strike Commander Morrison came on the big screen at the back of the room. "Prowler." Said Morrison. "Commander." Said Prowler. "I doubt you're unfamiliar with the King's Row Uprising happening as we speak." Said Morrison. Prowler knew exactly what he was talking about, the surprise attack of the Omnic Extremists, Null Sector, on King's Row in attempt to take hostages and bargain for Omnic rights. Prowler and the Owls has requested multiple times for the green light on the operation. "And…" Said Prowler, slightly excited. "I'm sending a Strike team of four to King's Row to try and neutralize the situation. But after giving it much thought, I've decided I want you, and only you, to drop into the area. For two reasons: A. I have a new Cadet going on her first mission there, and I need you as a failsafe should something happen." "And B?" Asked Miller. "This is the kind of thing where Sub-Zion is Vital." Said Morrison. Sub-Zion, a secret organization run directly by Prowler, Fernando, Miller and Morrison. "Yes, all the hostages. Civilians captured by Null Sector and are being tortured until the Omnic rights change." Said Prowler. "Most of the hostages there have no power, they're civilians, they're just there to be hurt." Said Morrison. "And you want Sub-Zion to get them out." Said Prowler. "What do you say?" Asked Morrison. "Let's do it." Said Prowler without hesitation. "You leave in an Overwatch shuttle tomorrow morning, you'll Halo jump into the area once the guns are down. And one last thing, don't let the Strike team see you unless it's critical. Morrison out."


	6. Chapter 6

Prowler pulled out his weapon of choice, his Ocelot. The Ocelot was a mod of the P-90 SMG, this one modified to do serious and quick damage with a quick reload of an energy mag next to the butt. He started running in a diagonal pattern at the three Null sector troops on the rooftop, he took care of two before getting close, then rolled to the ground and finished the last one up close. "Great job, Prowler." Fernando came onto the radio. "Sub-Zion transport in en route to Court Yard." Said Fernando. "Hold it just for a bit, the Strike team's still there." Said Prowler, looking down on them. "Prowler, we're getting some chatter from Overwatch, they're having trouble with the bomb, this might take longer than we thought." Said Miller. "Ok, first group of Hostages are one Klick east of you, stay out of sight of the Strike team." Said Miller again. "Aye." Said Prowler. He ran to the side of the roof and climbed down the building where he couldn't get seen by the Strike team or other Null Sector troops. He reached the ground and sneaked to a gate that lead to an alley way, picked the lock and snuck through without a hiccup. Over by the bomb, Tracer thought she saw something near the gate, but was too preoccupied to notice. Prowler snuck through the Alley way at high, stealthy speed, and didn't have too much trouble with Null Sector troops. This is why he was called Prowler. He prowled the battlefield at high speeds without you even knowing he's there. He did have to deal with a few troops, but was no problem for his Wolf Revolver, a high power silent revolver side arm that would make a certain Blackwatch agent jealous. "Fernando, Morrison says the bomb is away, you know what to do." Said Miller. "Si." Said Fernando. Prowler came across the target building, a small church. They were just civilians that couldn't fit into the power station. Prowler took out the guards, went straight inside startling some hostages, and setting them free. He gave them the situation. "Ok listen, I'm here to get you out of here. Follow me, stay quiet and keep your head down. I'm going to get you to a transport to get you out of here. We'll head about one Kilometer west, shout if you need anything, do you understand. The group was small enough that Prowler could sneak them out without Null Sector getting a hint, they were too busy with the Strike Team anyway. Prowler lead the group through the alleyway he went though and viewed the courtyard in front of the cathedral where the transport would land. It was crawling with troops. "Miller, I need air support." Said Prowler. "Yeah, it doesn't look like I can land with all this firepower." Said Fernando. "Roger, Support Chopper Arriving shortly." Said Miller. Prowler sat quietly with the hostages for about two minutes when he heard machine gun fire coming from above. "This is Ishmael, engaging enemy force." Said the pilot. After a split second later, he spoke again. "This is Ishmael, target area is clear, you're good to go Prowler." Prowler opened the gate and snuck the hostages to the courtyard through all the Omnic corpses. "Alright, coming in hot." Said Fernando. The Sub-Zion shuttle descended to the courtyard and opened its doors, where Fernando with a rifle was waiting. "Come on, load 'em up and get the next batch." Said Fernando. All the hostages got on the shuttle, while Prowler and Fernando kept watch. "All hostages aboard, ascending." Said Fernando. The shuttle gained altitude to the point where it was out of firing range. "Miller, what's the next Target?" Said Prowler. Just then, an explosion was heard in the distance. "Miller, what was that?" Said Prowler. "Looks like the Strike team got into the power station. Anyway, the next target is just down the street to the east, close to the power station, be careful." Said Miller. Prowler started Sprinting toward the power station, and located the target building, in the corner of the area, while staying out of sight of the team and troopers going inside. He went to the door of the tall building, which seemed like a small apartment building. "Fernando, can you just land on top of the building? I can take care of any bots around here." Said Prowler. "Not on top, but right next to the roof." Said Fernando. "Ok, get ready, don't hit the LZ until I give you the signal." Said Prowler, he broke open the door and did the same drill, rallied the hostages, and lead them to the top of the building. "Wait here, stay low." Yelled Prowler. He ran down the stairs ready to fire, but there were no troops in sight. "Well, Fernando, it doesn't look like there's anything down here." Said Prowler. "Hmm, strange, maybe they're all diverting their power toward the Strike team." Said Miller. "Well, arriving shortly." Said Fernando. The drop ship descended and hovered next to the building, and hostages filed into it. "Prowler, Fernando, Strike team's done. They're coming out of the station, get out of sight." Said Miller. "Si, that's the last hostage, we're ascending." Said Fernando. The shuttle took off. "Ishmael here, arriving shortly at cathedral courtyard." Prowler saw the helicopter fly over his head. Then he heard an explosion right next to him, blocking the heat that came from it. There was a tank bastion firing at him. He immediately got out of the way, ran straight toward it, avoiding fire, dropped two live grenades next to it, and got behind the cover of a building. He heard the explosion, as well as a yelp. He looked at the source of the scream, it was Tracer. Prowler saw Mercy fly immediately towards her. "Lena, what's wrong?" Mercy worryingly asked. "Oh, just an explosion startled me, that's all Dr. Ziegler. "Team, back to the transport, quickly." Yelled Reinhardt. Prowler saw the team file back into the subway. "Nice job, with their job done, Null Sector will dissipate out of London, the British Military can take care of everything else, plus we got some Sub Zion rescues, our work here is done Prowler." span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanProwler let out a large breath and started walking toward the courtyard. Then, he heard a large explosion from the subway. "Miller?" Asked Prowler. "Oh no, that… Prowler, that's not good, we're getting messages from Overwatch. Their transport was sabotaged."


	7. Chapter 7

"I remember you." Said Ziegler. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you with the hair and eyepatch and what not." Prowler chuckled a bit, the last 6 years weren't too friendly on him. "You know, I can't thank you enough for that day. You saved Tracer's life." Said Ziegler. "Well, that's kind of my whole thing." Said Prowler. "She doesn't even know you. She comes to me every once in a while and asks "So what happened after the bomb in Kings Row?" And I'd always say "I wish I could tell you." You Owls, always keeping secrets." Said Ziegler. "What do you know of Owls?" Asked Prowler. Angela thought for a minute. "Well, I know you're some of the best around, you have a base just off of here, you like doing things solo and quiet, you're kind of a branch off of Overwatch, though I know you had a very good connection with Jack Morrison." Prowler nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm sorry, but Morrison perished in the fall of Overwatch." Said Ziegler. "Is that what everybody thinks?" Asked Prowler. "What?" "Morrison isn't dead, I met him and Captain Amari in Cairo about 4 years back."


	8. Chapter 8

Prowler was walking through the streets of Cairo at night. Almost silent, almost pitch black. Almost complete nothingness. Prowler was walking very slow. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, hot, and the pain from his missing eye, missing hand, which he had replaced somewhat with a pincher hand, and carrying the Body, Head and dismembered left hand of Fernando on his back, wasn't helping. "Prowler, stop, rest." Said Fernando. "I can keep watch." "But…" Prowler tried to argue as he collapsed to the ground. "Prowler, you've pushed yourself to you limit." This wasn't the first time though, they had been wandering Africa for over a year now. "I need to keep going…the other Owls, they, they…" Prowler tried getting up but collapsed again, and went unconscious. "Duermes mi amigo, duermes." Said Fernando. Fernando stared blankly up at the stars, admiring their beauty. He hoped Prowler could eventually wake up, but wouldn't be unhappy if he slept forever, he deserved it. The man had lost seven Owls in the past year. He'd been trekking the African wilderness, avoiding Talon fire and death in general. He was a well wanted man, not just by Talon, but by death itself. Prowler was a great example when it came to soldiers, but a true Paragon when it came to revolutionaries, or even heroes. Fernando then saw, and heard a whoosh, something you wouldn't be able to see if it were bustling. He looked around for a bit for where it came from, expecting a rodent or whatnot to find them, but he then saw walking toward him a man with a glowing red visor, a silhouette of a rifle, and heavy footsteps. "Prowler, Prowler wake up!" Fernando whispered. The figure walked closer. "Prowler!" The figure stopped "Fernando?" It said, in a dark, scarred voice. Fernando was shaking, he was scared for both of their lives. "…yes?" The man took off his visor and got closer, Fernando could see, it was Jack Morrison. "Morrison?" He asked. "Help, he's unconcious." Morrison looked at Prowler. "Yep, he's seen better days." Prowler woke up in a building, seeing the sun shine in from outside, breaking dawn. He was lying on a table, he was in his combat pants, an undershirt, and strangely, an eyepatch over his left eye, nothing else. It was relieving to him, to not have to have so much crud on his back, and Fernando. He got up a bit, and felt something different, his prosthetic. He originally had a pincher prosthetic. He had made it from craft in the African wilderness with another Owl, where a rope system tied to Fernando's head would activate it. It got by for the most part. But now he looked at it, it had a larger rope system connected to his other shoulder. He looked a little bit further down, and he found out the pincher was gone. It had been replaced by a prosthetic that resembled an actual hand. He moved his right should a bit and saw it move. "You like it?" Said a tired, yet familiar voice. Prowler looked up and saw a hooded woman holding a cup of coffee. It was Captain Amari. "I stayed up all night working on it. Not my first rodeo with this kind of thing." She said. "But where did you…" "It's my arm amigo, you need it more than I do." Said Fernando, laying in a chair behind Prowler. "You want some water, some breakfast?" Asked Amari, holding up a water canteen. Prowler almost immediately grabbed it and drank a good half of it within seconds. He was parched, but mindful of others. "I'll take that as a yes. Can you walk?" Asked Amari. Prowler nodded. He pushed himself off the table and on to his feet, losing balance but getting it back. "Follow me." Said Amari, walking toward the door. Prowler looked over, grabbed Fernando and carried him over his shoulder as he followed her. The two went up to the roof, where Morrison was boiling something in a pot. "Good to see you're up Prowler." Said Morrison. "Hungry? I've got some MREs." Prowler sat Fernando and hinder down, Amari day right next to him. Morrison grabbed some tongs. "So tell me, what are two Owls and Sub-Zion leaders presumed dead doing here?" Asked Morrison. "I can say the same for you." Said Prowler. "Right, how much do you know?" Asked Morrison. "Overwatch is dead, what else?" "What happened to you?" "About one year ago, under your orders, a Strike team of 10 Owls including me were sent to Northern Sudan to take care of Omnic terrorists. The two chopper transports from the camp at the Egyptian border were shot down by Talon. One was hit with a missile directly to the cockpit, killing half the team without touching the ground. Another was shot down by machine gun fire to the blades, sending it to the ground. All the Owls in it survived, as we got up and retreated back to base on foot. Talon started firing at us and we just kept running from them. One Owl died of gunfire eventually, the other two died of Dehydration and Heatstroke in Egypt. We find the Owl camp is nowhere to be found and we start walking toward Cairo in search of protection, and now here we are." Morrison pauses for a minute. "Well, you're not dead yet are you." Said Morrison. "No, but as far as we know, Talon wants us dead ASAP." Said Prowler. Morrison used the tongs to pull out three steaming tin foil blocks. "Morrison, I have to ask, what happened?" Said Prowler. He paused for a minute "What happened to the Owls, to Sub-Zion?" "Well, after you were declared KIA, the Owls didn't last long. Alongside Miller, a new face stepped up to the plate, a woman named Amelia Smith. She was met with mixed results with the Owls. Some thought she was a great fighter and the perfect mix of a sadist and a mercenary. But she wasn't you, she wasn't a hero like you were, which bugged some of the Owls that knew you more personally. I for one didn't care for her. But then one day…"


	9. Chapter 9

Prowler knew what he had to do, it was against one of the main orders of the mission he'd been given, but he didn't have a choice. He had to rush into the subway and rescue the Strike team. "Miller, I'm going in." Said Prowler. "Roger, I'll alert Morrison." Said Miller. Prowler ran toward the entrance to the subway and was greeted by heated smoke and the sound of gunfire. He ran down the stairs to the platform, shot three troopers that were there and jumped on to the tracks. Underneath the smoke was four more troopers firing at the Strike team behind Reinhardt's barrier. Prowler immediately blasted through them and saw Torbjorn putting up his turret, and Mercy tending to Tracer, who had been knocked unconscious. Prowler looked at her, it was his responsibility to make sure she'd make it back alive, and he could have failed. "You the help Morrison sent?" Asked Reinhardt. "Yep, the name's Prowler, I'm an Owl commander." He said, putting away the Ocelot. "The Owls. I was wondering when I'd get to meet one of you." Said Reinhardt. "So what happened?" Asked Prowler, walking toward them. "Our transport was blown to smithereens. What do you think happened." Said Torbjorn. "Is Oxton alright?" Asked Prowler. "She should be fine." Said Mercy. "A couple bruises and knocked unconscious, but no broken bones." Prowler pulled out his Owl terminal put it on speaker, and kneeled to the floor. "Fernando, how much room is in that shuttle?" "Not much Amigo, maybe dos o tres more guys, but that's it." "The touchdown points at the courtyard, if we all can't fit, it's a lost cause, and if we get surrounded along the way, we're toast." Said Prowler. "I need to extract Lena ASAP, we can't make it that far." Said Mercy. Prowler thought and then pinged his terminal again. "Miller, you think the chopper can fit next to the power station?" "It'll be a tight fit, but I'm sure Ishmael can make it work." "Roger, I'll get onto the chopper with Mercy and Tracer, Torbjorn and Reinhardt will make their way to the courtyard while we provide them cover fire to the shuttle. Then we're out of here." Said Prowler. Everybody seemed happy with the plan. "Let's go then." Said Prowler. Reinhardt grabbed Tracer and put her over his shoulder, put up his shield and lead the way. Prowler readied his Ocelot, and the team headed out. "Ishmael, en route to LZ, standby for extraction." They got out and fired at the many Null Sector troops coming for them. It was mostly remaining bots that hadn't been cleaned up the first time round, but then came something new. Omnic troops that had blades on their hands that extended like swords, similar to a Talon Assassin. They were quick, light and the team all agreed that it's best if they kept them back. Reinhardt, who had been holding Tracer, had to put her on the ground when one got too close so he could hit it with his hammer. Then, a sword bot that had snuck behind the team leapt out of nowhere, and it was about to land on Tracer. It seemed like time slowed down, the rest of the team watched with a gaze as they were about to see Tracer be impaled, and not be able to do anything. Then, at what seemed like the last possible millisecond, Prowler shoulder tackled the bot and pushed it to the ground. He immediately pulled out his Wolf, and just like that, the threat was gone. Prowler stood up, but then felt an immense pain in his abdomen. He looked at it, his hand that was covering it was drenched in blood, the sword had sliced straight through his stomach about six inches from the middle, and sliced straight out of it. Mercy immediately flew toward him and gave him some healing. He felt a bit better. "Thanks." He said. It wasn't healing as fast because it was so big, but he was getting by. "This is Ishmael, LZ is in sight, prepare for immediate extraction." Went over the radio, and the sound of a helicopter roared through the air. Reinhardt grabbed Tracer, watched as the helicopter descended to a hover over the ground, and laid her on the ground of the chopper. Several gunshots hit the chopper. "We're taking fire, hurry up." Said Ishmael. Mercy walked Prowler over to the chopper and got him in next to Tracer, and hopped in herself, and the chopper almost immediately flew away. The inside of the Owl chopper consisted of three three-seating cloth benches; one on each side and one on the back. Mercy got up and laid Tracer on the one on the left side of the craft. Prowler sat in the one on the right. She did a checkup on Tracer to make sure she was still breathing and her heart was beating. "I can't thank you enough." Said Mercy. "This mission went so south so quickly, if you didn't show up, I don't think any of us would've lived. And with that sword bot." "It's fine, it's all in part of being a hero." He reached for the first aid kit. "After all, that's what we are right?" He opened it and pulled out gauze, disinfectant and bandages and began treating himself. "You need me to help you with that?" Asked Mercy. "It's fine, I was a combat medic in the Navy SEALs for about a year before going into the Owls." "Wow." She said. Prowler continued treating his wounds while Mercy secured Tracer. Fernando came over the radio. "Sub-Zion transport is away." "Roger, heading home." Said Ishmael. "Rendezvous at Overwatch Headquarters, we'll figure this out there. I'll be there personally." Said Miller. The chopper and Transport began to fly out of London Airspace. The chopper was silent for the first hour of flight. "So what is Sub-Zion?" Asked Mercy.


	10. Chapter 10

Tracer was in the Watchpoint's break room drinking a bottle of water and strolling through social media on her phone. Mercy walked in the room. "Oh, Mercy! How's that fellow I found at the beach?" She asked. "Oh, him. He's interesting really." Mercy kept thinking to herself. How could she tell Tracer that she had rescued the man who had saved her life so many years ago. "How so?" "Well, he asked me to take off the prosthetic I gave him and give him back his old one. Once I was done hooking that all up, he got up, put on some clothes, looked through some files to catch up on the past few years, and walked down to the beach where you found him." Tracer was surprised, like it was a suicide attempt. "Wait so… what's his deal?" Asked Tracer. "He was with Overwatch so many years ago, he's still getting his mind straight." Said Mercy. "Oh really, what's he done?" "Well, he was the old Owl commander." "Oh, you know, I met him a while back, Morrison sent me to his camp to deliver some files." Mercy was surprised to hear this. Had Prowler not told her who saved her life in Kings Row? "Really?" "Yeah, they're like the best of the best, aren't they?" "Well yes. Say Lena, are you sure that was the first time you've been in the same vicinity as him?" Tracer was about to say something but paused and looked at Mercy, a bit confused and curious. "What do you know?" Tracer asked. "The Kings Row mission…" Mercy went on to tell her all that happened while she was unconscious. "Wow. So he, he was…and…" Tracer was still trying to figure out how she felt about it all. "I…I feel like I should go say thank you" Said Tracer. "Yes, it might be in your best interest." Said Mercy. "But does he want to be disturbed?" Asked Tracer. Before Mercy could say anything, a message came over the intercom. "Tracer and Mercy, please come to my lab immediately." Said Winston. The two ran up to Winston's lab where he was working on his big computer with Prowler's Terminal. "What's up big guy?" Asked Tracer. "Come take a look at this." Said Winston. Tracer blinked up to the computer. "So I got the Terminal working. This guy's file is Commander Axl "Prowler" Clarkson, Founder and Commandant of Owl, KIA 5 years ago." "He seems fine." Said Tracer. "And looking into the terminal, I found something that I think he should look into." Winston played an the screen an audio file from the terminal, a man with a British accent started talking. "Prowler… look everybody says you're dead, but you've been in worse, much worse than a helicopter crash. Now look, Smith, she kind of, she… things are bad. I can't believe I let her into a position of power. In case you didn't know, Overwatch is in a bad position, they won't last much longer, and now, Owl is dying. I'm preparing an escape, we're heading toward Sub-Zion, we as in the Owls who still follow you. There aren't many of us. I'm not sure how, but if you can get to Sub-Zion, we can thrive again. We can be heroes, like we set out to be. Until then, don't trust any Owls, if they're with Smith, they aren't friendly. Miller out." "Who was that?" Asked Tracer. "I recognize that voice, and that name." Said Mercy. "What?" Asked both Winston and Tracer. "He came into my office here, a few years ago, he got his disabled legs replaced with metal ones, he…when was that message sent out?" Winston checked the screen. "Five years ago." "That seems about right." Said Mercy. "Let's take this to him, we'll see if he knows where to go." Said Tracer.


	11. Chapter 11

"…I remember being stationed at Watchpoint: Gibraltar at the time, Overwatch Headquarters was being inspected by the U.N. I was working on a balcony when I heard explosions and gunfire in the distance. I looked around, and saw flashes on the Owl beach. I got there as soon as I could, I got a shuttle out with some arms and flew over there, but I was too late. Smith's army had overrun any opposers. We got on the ground and started attacking, but most of them got away by helicopters, we were only able to nail a couple. We checked the security footage later and found out that three choppers full of good Owls tried to escape. One was shot down immediately, another made it out to see before crashing, and the third made a full escape. It's impossible to figure out who was on which chopper. I don't know where Miller is, nor if he's alive or not. What we did find from the ashes of the camp, was Talon technology in several tents. You were infiltrated, that's why Talon wants you. Smith recruited all of her followers to Talon so they could do what they wanted to, kill those that needed to be killed, so they didn't have to follow your rules. So, in the end, Owl died just before Overwatch did. There was an uprising, several of our staff turned to Talon, and I was presumed dead." Prowler was thinking everything over. "Smith was scared of you, not as a soldier, but a hero. She knew you could make your enemies suffer without killing them. And now she's on the hunt for you." Said Amari. "All of Talon is." Said Morrison. Once the foiled MREs stopped steaming, Morrison picked one up and gave it to Prowler. He took it with his right hand, put it on his lap and tried to open it with his one good hand. "Don't worry, spend some time with it, and that hand will start working, good as new." Said Amari. Prowler looked down at his prosthetic hand, then looked at Fernando. "You sure you don't need this more than me?" Asked Prowler. "Hey, I can survive in extreme circumstances, you can't. Keep it, you'll need it." Said Fernando. Prowler, looked at him like he was taking his firstborn child. He got back to opening the foil, inside was a solid block of meat with vegetables mixed inside. He tried using his prosthetic to pick it up, but couldn't get very far. "Try again." Said Amari. And so he did. Prowler spent the next couple months with Amari and Morrison, defending Cairo from the extreme harm that came upon it. Omnics attacking, gangs, helping the sick and injured, the whole shabang. Along the way, Prowler could use his prosthetic much better. He went from simply grabbing things, to being able to reload his revolver with it with ease. After about eight months in their little philanthropy, Morrison said it. "I'm leaving." "What, why?" Asked Amari. "I told you a while ago. There are places that need to be protected more than here. Besides, if I stay here for too long, our enemies will get smart to us." Morrison said while glaring at Prowler with Fernando on his back. Prowler knew that he needed to leave too, or Smith would find them. Morrison packed his horse with food and water, and was about to set off into the wilderness. "So, before you go…" Said Prowler. "…what are your plans with your share of Sub-Zion?" He asked. "My share?" "Sub-Zion is as much yours as it is mine, or Miller's, or Fernando's." "Yeah, look. I brought the messages and helped you along the way, but you know as well as I that you're the true master of Sub-Zion." Prowler paused and looked at him. "It was your idea in the first place, you made the team, you made the decisions, you lead the army, you made a strong sanctuary, a strong army, a strong nation. Prowler, no matter what I do from here on out, Sub-Zion won't be affected. It's all up to you now." Prowler looked at him some more. "So you're leaving Sub-Zion?" Asked Prowler. "You could say so, but know that it's in my best interest to see you, and Fernando, and hopefully Miller build up what we set out to make." "You're gonna make me cry." "Prowler, Overwatch tried to be Sub-Zion and failed, you have that chance. Don't die like it did." Morrison left on a horse as Prowler, Fernando and Amari watched him go. Amari looked at Prowler. "Don't tell me, I know where you two are going." She said. Prowler smiled at her. "Tomorrow, we set out for Sub-Zion, let's finish this."


	12. Chapter 12

Prowler stood on the shore where the Owls once trained, staring out into sea. He was recollecting everything that happened. He had changed out of his Hospital attire into an aviators jacket that bore the Owl logo with sleeves that he rolled up to his elbows, jeans, and combat boots. The friends, loves, the body, everything he's built, all that he lost. He looked down at the open palm of his omnic hand. "Fernando…" he clenched it. "…I'm going to take it all back." Prowler heard a car pull up behind him, he didn't look back. "Prowler." Mercy yelled. After about ten seconds, Prowler looked back. Mercy, Tracer and Winston were in an off-roader getting out. Mercy walked toward him with the terminal. "We fixed it, and there's an audio message on it." She gave him the Terminal. "Thanks, I'll be sure to look into it." He said. "Well, we were wondering if you could tell us what it means." Asked Tracer. Prowler looked at her and then pulled out the Terminal, turned it on, scrolled through the menus, and pulled up the audio file. "Henry?" Prowler played the audio file. After it was done, Prowler nodded. "So…" Winston asked. "My old commandant, Miller, tried to head toward Sub-Zion. But there's about a 1/3 chance he actually made it." He said. "Well…" Asked Mercy. "Well what?" Asked Prowler. "What is Sub-Zion?" Tracer asked. Prowler looked back out into the sea. "It doesn't matter who, but at some point, there's always somebody who wants war. Countries, Militias, what be it. But always, Countries especially, wars happen between two parties and civilians get stuck between them. People who never asked for war. Soldiers invade every corner of a town and hurt those that don't deserve it. Sub-Zion is a sanctuary, dedicated to getting those that don't belong on the battlefield out of danger. Wars stay between those that started it, and nobody who didn't sign up has to get hurt." "That…" Tracer said. "That sounds like paradise." "Well, that explains Kings Row, you were rescuing innocents." Said Mercy. "Your job was to rescue the big guys. My job was to rescue those that didn't sign up to be hurt." Said Prowler. "So where is it?" Asked Tracer. "I wish I could tell you, but it's always moving, the only way to find it is through a complicated process by using this terminal." He said. "Well, are you going to find it?" Asked Winston. Prowler smirked. "Well, with your help, I could." Prowler told Winston what to do with the terminal to get started. Once they were done, the three went back to the car while Prowler walked over to the control center to try and search it out. When Prowler was making his way over there, he was stopped by Tracer. "Hey, um. I just wanted to thank you for saving my life in Kings Row all that time ago." "Well, your welcome. I mean, what are heroes for?" Tracer giggled a bit. "Hey, I'm not sure if you remember, but before you, well left, I you gave me an opportunity and I…" Tracer almost started crying. "…a day doesn't go by where I don't wish I took it."

[UPDATE]

Thank you so much for reading Prowler. I have big plans for this fan fiction, and at least 10 more chapters. I really want to make this as good as possible. If you have any constructive criticism, please feel free to leave a review.


	13. Chapter 13

Another day at Watchpoint: Gibraltar went by, it was boring in a way. All the stress was in Overwatch at HQ in Switzerland, but there wasn't much for those at the Watchpoint to do but wait. The constant overcast and on and off rain showers were just making everything dull. Winston was working on the computer in his lab with a headache, he needed a break. He was yawning when he got a call from Commander Morrison. "Winston here." "Winston, How is everybody?" Asked Morrison. "Everybody's…morale isn't high commander." "I'm sorry to hear that, but putting anybody in the field now can be risky. I'm already stretching trying to get a team out to Sudan to eliminate a Null Sector camp." "No worries commander." "But that reminds me. How's Tracer doing?" "Bored as everybody else." "I need you to send her to the Owl camp with an important message from me, it's about 25 miles east of your position. I'll send you the documents." "Understood sir." Winston received the documents on his computer, printed them out, and called Tracer down to his lab. She dashed in. "What's up big guy?" She asked. "Tracer, Commander Morrison needs you to get these documents to an Overwatch camp, about 25 miles east. I'll give you the location on your GPS." Winston handed Tracer a folder with papers, when a sound of thunder crackled in the distance. "Oh, and you may want a rain coat." "On it!" She yelled. She immediately went to her room, grabbed a rain poncho, then ran down to the Garage, got on a motorbike, and drove off to her destination. Once she got about 10 miles out, it started raining. She got to the destination, the Owl camp, and was stopped by the soldier at the gate. "What're you doing here miss?" The guard asked. "Special files from Commander Morrison, I'll give them to your leader." Tracer said. She gave him the folder. He checked through it real quickly then gave it back, went into the checkpoint, and opened the gate. Tracer started driving through. She'd never been through that area before, but when she did, she was amazed at what the camp was like. Tons of tents pitched, Owls in combat training in the rain and wet sand, helicopters, and shuttles. It was a good, old fashioned camp, like in the old war movies she used to watch. She parked her bike and looked around for a leader. An Owl supervising the combat training turned saw her. "Can I help you?" He yelled. "Yes, I'm looking for the one in charge." Tracer said. The Owl walked closer. "Your looking at him. We can't talk here, come with me to that control center." He said. Tracer and the Owl walked to the control center. Inside was much warmer and dryer. There were several computer specialists were working, as well as a man in a wheelchair coming toward them. "Miller, got time to head to the board room?" The Owl asked. The man in the wheelchair nodded. "Meet is up there." He rolled into a lift, and it slowly went up. "Follow me." The Owl and Tracer walked up some cement stairs to a hallway, and took the first door to the right. The board room had a large table, one end had a whiteboard and projector. The other had some things you'd find in a break room, stove, coffee machine, tea kettle, water, probably to keep people awake during lectures. "Sit down." Tracer pulled up a chair as Miller rolled into the room. "Must be cold out there." Miller said "Would you like some coffee, tea, something warm?" "Oh, some tea would be nice, thank you." Said Tracer. "There's a true Brit." Said Miller. "Oh, sorry, that's Commander Miller, I'm Prowler, we work this place." He said. span class="Apple-converted-space" /span"Prowler, thank you, but I'm not sure if this is necessary, I'm just delivering some files." Tracer said. Miller gave her a hot cup of tea in a white tea cup. "Who sent you?" Prowler asked. "Commander Morrison." Tracer blew on her cup took a drink from it. "You clearly don't know him well enough, if you didn't have anything to do with this, he wouldn't have sent you." Said Prowler. "Well see for yourself." Said Tracer, giving him the folder. Prowler flipped through it. He took some papers and gave them to Miller. He looked a little further. He chuckled a little bit. "Seems I was right." Said Prowler. Tracer was confused yet curious. "So, Morrison wants you in the Owl." Said Prowler. "W…what?" Tracer was completely lost. "Morrison says you're a good leader, somebody who never gives up, and an amazing hero." "Really? Well, I'm flattered, but I don't think I could do all of this, I mean, who are you guys anyway?" Prowler closed the file and looked out the window. "Owl, or Overwatch Wilderness League, is a team of elite Overwatch soldiers trained in combat, espionage, as well as surviving in the wilderness, traversing it, land navigation, etc. We're some of the best Overwatch has to offer. You'd be a fool to pass an opportunity such as this." Tracer thought for a minute. "Well, look, I'm really, really glad about this invitation, but I just, I don't think I can, I have a Strike team to lead and I simply can't do all of…this you guys do." Tracer was in somewhat of a panic trying to stay out of something, she thought it was something out of her league. "Are you sure? You'd learn some of the most amazing things, make your self stronger, faster, better. And getting into this ain't easy, a recommendation from Morrison can already get you a long way." Said Prowler, going full persuasion mode. ""Thanks but really, I'm fine." Prowler looked slightly disappointed. "Well, the spot will stay open." "Thank you, and thanks for your hospitality, but…you have your files, I'll let myself out." Tracer walked out of the room, quickly. "Wonder why she didn't want to do it." Said Miller. "Hmm…" Prowler wondered. "Maybe it's just the intensity, she probably can't handle it all." "And yet she can handle everything else she's been through?" Asked Miller. "I don't know. It's a shame though. Morrison didn't just want her for Owl, he wanted to recruit her to Sub-Zion."


	14. Chapter 14

"I'm not sure what scared me so much. But, I think it had to be something about the whole thing you've been through. You for one are so much more than a soldier now, I don't mean to rub salt in the wound, but you don't exactly have a home to go back to now." "Yeah, I won't lie, this life ain't for everybody." "But now, I'm wishing I had taken it." Tracer started sniffing. "You know, Mondatta?" She asked. "Yeah, I looked through some recent events at the base, saw he was assassinated." Tracer went from sniffing to tearing. "I…I feel like I could have saved him, I could have made the world better if I had trained with you, I could have gotten better, I could've…" Tracer started crying and put her head on Prowler's chest, hugging him. Prowler hugged her back, trying to comfort her. "It's alright, I know." He tried to maker her feel better. "Lena, I'm so glad you didn't" Said Prowler. Tracer looked up at him, wondering why. "That week you came to me to give me the files, was the week that my chopper got shot down in Sudan. I you had been in Owl then, I couldn't promise you you'd be alive by now. I don't think those rogues would have mercy on you. And I don't think Morrison could live with himself if you died because of something he pushed you to." Tracer rested a little easier. Now she was just mourning the death of Mondatta, still embracing Prowler. "I remember when I met Mondatta." She looked up at him once more. "About a decade ago, I was a Navy SEAL combat medic. A message had been sent to us, the SAS, Overwatch, and other militaries from Omnic Revolutionaries in Mexico, asking to help escort them and some important package across the Rio Grande. The only people that wanted to help in the entire West Coast SEAL base was me and my squad leader. The military wasn't going to waste a helicopter taking only me and him there, so we got in a truck and drove to the rendezvous. I met some revolutionaries, asked what the package was, and they showed me it. It was Mondatta." "You escorted Mondatta across the border?" "Yep, all the other SEALs thought it wasn't worth their time, but I knew it would be worth it. It's also where I met Morrison, some other soon to be Owls, and where I got recruited to Overwatch and founded both Owl and Sub-Zion." Tracer let go of Prowler. "Prowler. I think Sub-Zion sounds amazing. I really wish I could be a part of it." "Who says you can't?" Prowler asked. "You're saying…" Tracer got all jittery. "Sure, once we find it, you'd make a great asset." He said. Tracer tried to show as much gratefulness as she could. "Yes, that sounds amazing luv." Tracer realized how long she's been out there. "Oh, I'm probably keeping the other s waiting. See ya soon luv." Tracer blinked away faster than Prowler could wave goodbye. Prowler walked over to the control center and got to work.


	15. Chapter 15

"…soldiers from the terrorist corporation known as Talon now roam the streets of Canonea. They have fired on civilians killing several, including cops, and have injured many more. We advise that you stay indoors, and out of danger. This is John Hall from Mexico News Network, signing off." "Clarkson, you're crazy." Yelled Hansen, the SEAL officer. "These guys are innocent and dying, we have to help them." Prowler said back. "Clarkson, I said I would come to escort Mondatta across the border, then we would head back to Coronado." "And we can still, but we need to help this city." "We're only about 60 miles left to go, they're luring us out to give them Mondatta, and I won't let them." "But…" "Clarkson, that's an order." Prowler stood still and quiet. "Fine, here, you can take Mondatta across the border with the rest of the revolutionaries. I'm going to Canonea with Morrison and Miller." Prowler started walking away. "Clarkson! If you do this, you're a war criminal." Said Hansen. "Fine then, we'll see who the court rules in favor, the soldier doing his job, or the hero doing his job." "You can't do anything about this Clarkson." Prowler turned around and walked straight at him. "Lieutenant, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but these are terrorists, terrorists kill people. But unlike you and me, these people can't fend for themselves, they didn't sign up for war, we can actually help them, let them live better." "We can do that by escorting Mondatta." "How do you know? Think about it, if word gets out about Mondatta back in America, and Talon still has control of that city, they can start killing them all like no other, total genocide." "But if you go, you can die." "And? Think about it, how many Talon soldiers have we killed since we started this mission? We can take this." It was obvious Hansen was losing his patience with Prowler. "Clarkson…" "No, look, if you're going to escort Mondatta, cool, that makes it easier. But I'm going to go keep war between me and those who want it, not between those who want it and those who don't" Hansen had just about had enough. "You have 72 hours, or you're walking back to Coronado." Said Hansen "Seems fair."


	16. Chapter 16

Prowler woke up in a lifeboat in the middle of the night. He took a second to recollect everything that happened. He remembered. He and Fernando had headed west to Morocco after they left Cairo. The two had spent a year making their way to Rabat on foot and vehicle. They spent another year and a half in hiding and protecting others there, the Talon presence in the area was unusually strong. The two had then gotten aboard a tanker to sail to the other side of the straight. But then, Talon soldiers had invaded it, so they had to get on a lifeboat, and sail east. This proved easier said than done. Took about five months to get to where he was now. What was left of Fernando was laying on Prowler's chest with Prowler's arm around him. He slid out of under him and pulled himself up. Then he realized, he was looking at the aft side of his boat, but he wasn't moving whatsoever, despite the waves. He turned to look at the forward and gasped at the sight of a beach. He immediately got out his flashlight and map, and charted the starts. After about a minute, he figured had overshot his target, the Owl camp, by about 100 miles to the east. This wasn't preferable, but with him running out of rations, this was fine. "Fernando!" Prowler leaped our of the boat onto the sand. It was only a 100 mile walk to the camp, and 125 to the Watchpoint, where he could get to Sub-Zion. "Fernando! Come on, we're almost there." Fernando stayed motionless in the boat. "Fernando?"


	17. Chapter 17

Over the next couple days, Prowler had been at work cleaning out the Owl camp of anything still usable. He had found several tents, some in worn but repairable condition, camp supplies like sleeping bags, cookware, and other basic survival equipment. Some rifles, pistols, and even a sniper rifle, along with ammo for all of them, several Owl uniforms and medallions, and some broken terminals. He had cleaned out the crashed helicopter, though there wasn't much, as well as went through the Owl hangar nearby, with two choppers, and a shuttle in repairable conditions. Winston on the other hands had followed what Prowler Said about the terminal. He hooked it up to his computer and was using it to find Sub-Zion. It was no easy process, the terminal was receiving an encrypted message from Sub-Zion. It took Winston several hours to repair it and hook it to the right antenna and and find the right frequency for Sub-Zion. How it worked was that the message was decoded, and it gave a shape, and then a list of other shapes along with coordinates for each one. The coordinates were center pieces to the shapes that they were assigned to. This would make you think that Sub-Zion was in one of the areas listed. But what only Sub-Zion agents and soldiers knew is that these were actually blackout areas, so they were where Sub-Zion wasn't. The shape with no coordinates was a puzzle piece, you'd align it with what was left, wherever it fat best, that's the general area of Sub-Zion, for the time. Then you would travel to the area and the terminal was activate a pointer to point you to where Sub-Zion was. After several days of working on it, Winston finally cracked it. Prowler was walking through the hall holding a box of things he had found in the control center that were still usable. "Oi Prowler, what ya got there?" Yelled Tracer from across the hall. Tracer was walking with another woman Prowler thought looked so familiar, but couldn't lay his finger on it. She was about as tall as her and had long, gingery hair. "Eh, just some crud I found in the old control center. Cracked coffee mugs, terminals what not." Said Prowler. "Oh, Prowler, this is my girlfriend, Emily." Said Tracer. Emily happily took out her hand to shake the crusty old sailors. She was slightly uncomfortable, but after being around Lena for so long, being the person to have a talking gorilla for a best friend, seeing a man with an eyepatch and omnic arm wasn't the weirdest thing she's seen. "Nice to meet you…Prowler, was it?" He shook her right hand with his. "Pleasure's mine." "Ya got a better name?" Asked Emily. Fitting though, she never called Angela "Mercy" or Lena "Tracer". "Axl." Said Prowler. "Axl, huh? I like it." "We'll let you get back to work" Tracer said, somewhat dragging her girlfriend away. Prowler continued walking down the hall. "Is he new?" Asked Emily, quietly. "Sorta, he was in Overwatch a while ago, but he just barely rejoined. It's a long story." Said Tracer. "He just seems so…familiar." "Familiar? You know him?" Asked Tracer. "I don't think I know him, but I feel like I've seen him somewhere before." Prowler walked into his new room at Watchpoint: Gibraltar, since his personal tent for him, Miller, and Fernando was burned to the ground, probably as an act of protest by Smith against him. His room was small, made smaller with all the Owl stuff he'd been hoarding in it. He put the box of stuff on a nearby desk cluttered with cookware. He searched through the box a little through broken terminals, rounds, a pistol, but then saw something. Miller had been a very sentimental fellow. He took pictures of a lot of things and found places to hang them up, or frame and display them. In one framed photo that Prowler found on Miller's old desk, he saw something of major interest. The intercom went over in his room. "Prowler, you there?" Asked Winston on the intercom. "Yeah, I'm here." He said. "I finally got it, I found the area where Sub-Zion is." Prowler didn't respond. "Uhh, Prowler?" Winston was about to pull up security footage to see where he was when he bolted into the room at high speeds. "You did?!" He yelled while breathing deeply. Winston got a minor scare out of it. "Oh, uh… yes, using the data on the terminal, I found it right here." Winston pointed at the screen at a geometric shape that looked like a bow tie over the southern Atlantic Ocean, slightly east of the Falklands. "You sure that's it?" Prowler asked. "Most definitely. I've had Athena run every possible combination seven times over now, this is the one that has popped up every single time." Winston said. "Perfect." Said Prowler. "So what now?" "We leave for Sub-Zion tomorrow morning." "Really, so soon?" "It won't be there long. Tell anybody who's interested in going to be at the west hangar at 0700 tomorrow morning." Prowler ran out of the room to make preparations. "Well you heard him Athena." Said Winston, looking at his computer. "Right away, I'll alert all agents on base." Said Athena. Prowler ran back into the room. "Oh, can I borrow a shuttle? All the Owl ones are out of commission."


	18. Chapter 18

0243 at the Watchpoint. Prowler was lying in his awake bed, having finished preparations for the shuttle to Sub-Zion several hours earlier. He lied restless, listening to the sound of the waves going by. He was running over everything in his mind. He had packed several granola bars and waters on the shuttle, in case somebody needed nourishment en route, and several firearms. All he was hoping for is that Sub-Zion never strayed away from what he made. He hoped that whoever was in charge of it, whether it be Henry or otherwise, didn't forget who Sub-Zion's rightful ruler was, or what it's purpose was. Sub-Zion had a mercenary branch separate from the sanctuary, known as The Warriors, and it was very profitable, but it was entirely possible that somebody had completely forgone the sanctuary and poured all the effort into The Warriors. He couldn't be too careful, remembering what Miller said. "Don't trust any Owls." He was ready, with three options: A. He finds Sub-Zion as he left it, more or less, and he can retain his power over and be a hero again. B. Find Sub-Zion as a Mercenary group, but acceptable, but just let's it be and stays with Overwatch. C. Find Sub-Zion as an evil organization, destroy it, and then stay with Overwatch. The latter two also have the mini option of re-founding Sub-Zion himself and start from scratch. He kept going over things in his mind, until he couldn't take the insomnia anymore. He got up in his undershirt, combat boots, and camo pants, went outside his room, and walked to the west hangar. Prowler looked at the Overwatch shuttle that Winston was letting him using, then looked out the hangar at the stars. He kept on asking himself questions, like "Where is Smith now?" or "Is Miller still alive?" "Restless?" Tracer's voice said from behind Prowler, startling him. She was in her Chronal Accelerator, an undershirt and snowflake pajama bottoms, like she had just woken up. "Yeah, it ain't nothing new. I've been restless ever since that day in Sudan. Being on the lamb always keeps you on your toes." He said. "Weird. You'd think you'd finally rest easy after making it back here." "Well, my mission ain't over yet." Prowler was quoting Morrison, and Tracer could almost tell, but chuckled. Tracer walked next to him. "Well, I finally convinced Emily to go with us, that alright luv?" She asked. "Oh, of course." Prowler said with a slight smugness "Heck, she might like it a bit more than she thinks she will." Tracer looked a little confused. "So what're you doing up?" Asked Prowler. "A couple things, but I was wanting to ask you. Do you know Emily? She thinks you look familiar" Said Tracer. "Funny, I was thinking the same thing." Said Prowler. "You ever go by London?" She asked. "Oh yeah, once. You see, one of my old Owl partners was in the SAS, and was invited to a veterans feast to give a speech. He sadly couldn't make it, but I had some vacation days saved up, so I took a week off, went and toured London, and gave the speech he wrote in his favor for them. They actually really liked the speech, they didn't like a Navy Seal giving it, but they liked the speech. As for London itself, it was lovely." Prowler kind of went on in a memory of all his favorite parts of touring the city. "Huh, you didn't by chance date her in that week, did you?" Tracer Asked. "Oh no, of course not. I really have no interest in woman, besides my mother of course. Nicest woman in the world, absolutely lovely." "Aww, that's cute. I never really talked to my parents after Overwatch and the accident, and after I…" Tracer cleared her throat to speak softly and quickly. "…came out, but it's always been fine." "Yeah, same here, it's always hard talking to family after you join the war." "When did you join Overwatch?" "Hmm, that was when I was 19, so 10 years ago." "You're only 29?" "Yeah, time hasn't exactly been nice to me." "Aww, I think you look great luv." The two sat down looking at the stars. "You know, you kind of remind me of my son." Said Tracer. "You have a child?" "Yeah, well, it's Emily's child, she birthed him, about 4 and a half years ago. We just have Emily's mum watch over him while we're at the Watchpoint." "Huh, so how do I remind you of him?" "You and him are so… determined. He doesn't really let off on anything. Heck if there's a cookie involved, don't get in his way." Prowler laughed out loud. "Yeah, that sounds like me." "How did you do it?" "Huh?" "How'd you keep up the hope of getting back here." Prowler thought for a minute. "I guess…I just kept in mind what mattered most to me." "Your love?" "Being a hero. I needed to be sure Sub-Zion could live on so that it could do what it did, saving hundreds." "Hundreds?" "Yeah,ast I checked, we had well over 700 people living in Sub-Zion." "Do they live there forever." "Well, no, some have lived there since they got there, but we usually return them to their homes once the conflict blows over." Tracer imagines the kind of place that was. "Well, you worked a lot harder than I did. I was a hideous drunken wreck in the years between Overwatch." "Ew." "Yeah, I had to do a lot of exercise to get back into the swing of things. Just having that whole life and pleasure, just having it taken away from you, it felt awful. You know what that's like?" Tracer looked over at Prowler, thinking she might have offended him." Oh, Axl, I'm so…" "Yeah, I do, well somewhat." He had more to tell than he was letting off. "You know, one of the ways I was able to get fit enough for the SEALs was by looking at drunks and other people that… what would you say…don't work as hard, and kept thinking that they were everything I didn't want to be." "Huh, you hate laziness?" "I hate normality. I always thought there was such a good feeling of the heat running through your boots, the sag of your cargos, the sounds of bullets going by, running faster and stronger than you did the day before. Of course, that was a very unpopular opinion." "Yeah, I missed being a hero so much, but I mean, it's not like 5 bottles of scotch a day was gonna change that" Prowler looked at Tracer with a surprised look. "What?" "How are you alive?" "It got easier, how much alcohol do you drink in a week?" "I've never drank one alcoholic beverage in my life." "Oh, wow." "No alcohol, no tobacco, no drugs, no nothing." "Why?" "Quickest way to lose yourself, ain't it?" Tracer stayed silent for a bit. "So…you got a lover?" "Me? Oh, no… well I did, but I mean, that was…" Tracer was looking at him smugly. "Yeah, I'm not sure if she's around anymore, but I did have a girlfriend in Coranado. She was…ok." "Ok?" "Yeah, really the only reason I dated her in the first place was because my parents were wanting Grandkids, despite me not wanting them, and I'm honestly glad that things didn't work out." "How so?" "She always made me feel so…uncomfortable. She pressured me sexually, sometimes in public, we really didn't have that much in common but I would always be forced to do what she wanted to do, no matter how much I didn't want to, and she really just took advantage of my military benefits. She was not what you want in a healthy relationship." "That sounds awful." "Yeah, then I got pulled to Overwatch and I never saw her again. Probably got kicked out of my old house eventually." Tracer chuckled. "So you didn't have anybody since then?" "Well, not exactly. I kind of had a secret relationship within the Owls." "Ooh, who was it?" Prowler embarrassingly chuckled. "He was a founder of Sub-Zion, a Mexican Omnic Revolutionary named Fernando." "Aww." "Yeah…" Prowler paused for a bit. "You wanna go for a drive?" Asked Prowler. The two put on some jackets, got in a hover-Jeep, and Prowler started driving off east. They drove for what felt like a good hour, Tracer fell asleep. "We're here." Said Prowler, waking Tracer up. "yawn* Finally." She checked the time, nearly 4:00 in the morning. Prowler grabbed an electric lantern out of the back of the vehicle. "Follow me." Prowler set off toward the shore they were parked near. They started climbing down a pile of rocks to the beach. It was here that Tracer realized she forgot shoes. They got to the sand. "Now, where was it?" Prowler swing his lantern back and forth, looking for something. Tracer followed behind a bit. "Gah!" Tracer yelped. "What's wrong?" The tide had come in and hit Tracer's bare feet. "Oh…i-it's fine. J-just a little c-cold." "Ok, you sure?" "Yep." Prowler was looking around the beach for something. "Bingo!" He yelled. He started running toward something with Tracer following behind. They came across a beached lifeboat. Tracer walked by it. "What is this?" Asked Tracer. "A lifeboat." He said. Tracer looked inside it. "I take it it's how you got to Gibraltar." "Yep." "So…" Tracer turned around and saw Prowler on one knee next to a rock with the lantern. She got closer and saw writing on the rock. "Here lies a great revolutionary" it wasn't just a rock, it was a grave. "Is this?" "Yep." Tracer kneeled down next to him. "How long ago was this?" Asked Tracer. "Two weeks." "Two weeks?" "For years, me and Fernando were the only Owls that survived the attack in Sudan. Now, it's just me." Tracer put her hand on his back. "Prowler… I am so sorry." The two had a moment of silence. "I've lost over half my army these past years. As a leader, you can't help but take ownership." "But…it wasn't your fault Axl." "I could say that, but then, what kind of leader would I be." Tracer stayed silent, she didn't know what to say. "It could be worse." Said Prowler. "In revolution, one triumphs or dies. Fernando, just happened to do both." "What do you mean?" Asked Tracer.  
Prowler held up his prosthetic hand. "Not all of him is lost." "Is that?" "His hand, he gave it to me in Cairo after I lost my own." "Wow, he sounds like a great hero." "He was." Behind them, the two could see the sun coming up. "Oh shoot, what time is it?" Tracer checked her watch. "5:00, we gotta go." She said. The two walked back to the transport. "You know, I never thanked you for saving on that beach." Said Prowler. "Oh, you're welcome. Besides, you saved my life, I figured it was fine. Plus, what are heroes for?"


	19. Chapter 19

Prowler walked slowly through a street of Canonea, no Talon soldiers in sight, it was official, they had killed the Talon commander that was in control of the city, and the soldiers were slowly dissipating. He was tired from the past week of work, and sat down on a curb, and drank some water from his canteen. A soldier came walking towards him, he pulled out his pistol. "Relax it's just me." Said Jack Morrison. Prowler put his pistol away. "Mind if I join you?" Morrison asked. "Please." Morrison sat down. "Want some?" Prowler asked Morrison. "No thanks, I got my own." Morrison pulled out his own canteen. "So how's Miller?" "Well, good news is he's alive and conscious, bad news is that grenade took away all feeling below his waist. He's going to need a wheelchair." Prowler put his head down slightly. "Don't worry, it wasn't your fault." Morrison said. "But was it?" "No. I told you two to head to take care of the targets in the gas station, there was nothing you could've changed from there." "Yeah. But I feel like there was something I could've done." "Don't worry about it, he's fine." Prowler took a drink. "Coming into this place, I was thinking about what I'd said to Hansen. These wars need to stay between soldiers and soldiers, with no civilians getting in the way." Said Prowler. "What're you saying?" "I want to make an organization, an organization dedicated to getting those out of the combat zone that don't belong. No civilian lives being lost at the hands of soldiers. They didn't ask for soldiers to come raiding their doorstep, and they won't get any." "That sounds pretty great." Morrison thought about it. "That's probably doing Overwatch's job better than Overwatch." He said. "Mind if I help you with that?" Morrison asked. "Really?" "You know, you along with the other soldiers here had shown me quite a bit, I was really impressed with how you guys handled this escort." Said Morrison. "Heh, thanks. Yeah I think most of your Overwatch guys train a lot for urban combat, you don't really know what the open world is like for the most part. Sorry if that offends you." "No, you're completely correct, I was one of the only ones at Overwatch with the proper training to take on this mission. But this is what I'm getting at. I was already thinking about recruiting you, Miller, and Fernando to Overwatch. I already talked to Miller, he thinks it's a fine idea. I still need to talk to Fernando. But what I was thinking is you three set up a division of Overwatch that specializes in wilderness combat like you do. So we can build your little place along the way with Overwatch's help. So what do you say?" Prowler thought for a bit. "Well, that sure as heck sounds better than the life on Coranado. Let's get to the rendezvous, there I'll tell Hansen I'm going with you."


	20. Chapter 20

Emily woke up from a dreary sleep to a 6:00 AM alarm. At this point she was wondering how she'd been convinced to go. She woke up to the sight of her girlfriend getting dressed him her uniform. "yawn* Early morning love?" Emily asked. "Uh, yeah." Tracer said, trying to hide the fact she'd been up all night learning about Prowler. "Come on get up love." Said Tracer. "Alright, alright." The duo got dressed and ready to go, and walked down to the shuttle in the west hangar. Mercy was waiting there. "Oi Mercy! You know where Prowler is?" Asked Tracer. "No, I haven't. But Lena, I kind of…found something." Mercy was holding a tablet. "This is his medical file, though it hasn't been updated in years." Mercy handed the tablet to Tracer. She looked through the medical files and saw mostly normal stuff, but then saw mental condition. "Insane?" Asked Tracer. This slightly worried the two. "But he doesn't seem like that." "I know, and I still trust him, but still, we can't be too careful. Lena, can you fly the shuttle?" Asked Mercy. "Yeah." She said. Behind them, Winston and Prowler walked into the hangar. "Alright, let's go!" Prowler yelled. "Wait, Winston, who's going to watch the base?" Asked Mercy. "Don't worry, Genji's here." Said Winston. "Wait, Shimada is here?" Asked Prowler. "Yeah, he's somewhere in the lower parts on the base, he can't really seem to figure out how to get out of the basement. I would go help him, but then again, I've been getting the greatest sleeps of my life since he got himself down there." Said Mercy. Everybody let out a good laugh. "Alright, let's get on this shuttle." Said Prowler. Everybody started filing onto it, except Tracer walked up to Prowler. "Hey luv, you fancy I fly this bird?" She asked. "You know, that's probably for the better. Heck, last time I flew a shuttle…" Prowler stopped talking and got onto the shuttle. Everybody except for Tracer and Prowler who were in the cockpit, was in the passenger area. Prowler set up the terminal on the dashboard as Tracer put in the coordinates. Tracer manned the controls and flew the bird out of the hangar southwest. After about 5 hours of flying, they reached the target area. The screen on the terminal changed to a compass with and arrow. "Follow the arrow." Said Prowler. Tracer turned to align herself with the arrow. After about 10 minutes of flying in that direction, the radio buzzed. "This is SZ Tower, identify yourself." Said the man on the radio. "Identification code: LXTNLGND." Said Prowler into the radio. "Please standby." The radio went silent for two minutes. "Roger, proceed in your direction at 1,000 feet, slow your speed to 80 mph. Clear for runway 24. Once you land, stay in your shuttle for inspection." Tracer lowered down to 1,000 feet at the direction. "Get ready." Said Prowler. Then the shuttle passed through a cloaking device and the whole picture came into view. Sub-Zion. It looked like two giant ocean liners sealed together, with an aircraft carrier sealed to the starboard side of it all on several beams. "Woah!" Yelled Tracer. Everybody else was in awe. "Ok, runway 24, on that aircraft carrier." "Roger." Tracer flew down to it and landed. On the runway. "Alright everybody, stay aboard." Said Prowler. The shuttle doors opened, and several soldiers baring the Sub-Zion logo came onto the shuttle. "Alright everybody, arms and legs apart." Yelled one of the soldiers. Everybody assumed a star fish position and got patted down. When prowler was patted down, he got an eye scan in his right eye. "Checks out…Prowler is it really you?" Asked the soldier. "Who else could make it here?" He asked. "Right, well. Commandant wants to see you." Said the Soldier. The team escorted them off the Aircraft carrier onto the starboard most ocean liner. Along the way, they all saw soldiers as well as civilians living there, safe from harm. Yep, it seemed like Sub-Zion. The guards escorted them to an area just below the bridge. "Just Prowler." Said the guard, pointing at an open elevator. "Right." Said Prowler. He walked onto it the lift, and the doors closed. The lift went down. He was ready for anything. The doors opened on the other side of him. He walked into a dark room with a wide window looking out into the ocean on the other side. He saw a silhouette of a man stand up. "Axl Clarkson. Is it really you?" The man asked in a British accent. Prowler hoped he knew who it was. "Who wants to know?" He asked. The lights turned on revealing a desk and fancy decor, as well as who it was. Prowler knew immediately. "Miller?" It was him. He looked slightly older than he did before, wearing what could be mistaken for common military formals. Prowler looked at Miller's standing legs with some cyborg equipment sticking out of them at his waist. "I see you finally decided to take my advice." Said Prowler. Miller walked over to Prowler and the two hugged it out. "You're actually alive, this is amazing." Said Miller. "I really hope your here to help with Sub-Zion." "Hey, if you've been running this show, I've got no problems with it." Sad Prowler. "Yes, yes…" Miller cleared his throat. "I am terribly sorry about the Owls, I can't believe I let that happen." "Hey, don't worry about it, if you have made Sub-Zion this big, I mean the aircraft carrier?" "Ah, yes. We purchased that from the RBDF to separate Sub-Zion from the Warriors." "It's amazing." Said Prowler. Miller let out a loud breath. "I take it Fernando didn't make it." Said Miller. "He made it to Gibraltar, died on the shoreline." "That's really unfortunate, I know how you two 'got along'" Said Miller jokingly. "So the Overwatch guys out there. You mind giving them the intro?" Asked Prowler. "Oh, yes, it'd be my pleasure." Said Miller walking toward the lift. Prowler closely followed with him. Back at the other end, the doors opened to everybody waiting there before. "Alright guys. This is one of the old Commandants of Owl and Sub-Zion, Henry Miller." Everybody had a sort of "pleased to meet you." Kind it face. Except for Emily, who was in a fit of shock and awe. "Dad?"


	21. Chapter 21

The team had finally reached the southern point of Texas. They did it, they escorted Mondatta safely across the border, and liberated a city in the process. The band of revolutionaries were staying at an abandoned house in the middle of the forest until everybody went their ways. The revolutionaries were going to escort Mondatta upstate to government property, Hansen was getting ready to drive back to Coronado, now Morrison, Prowler, Miller and Fernando were just waiting for the Overwatch shuttle to get their. Miller was sitting in one of the rooms in the house at a table, when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in." He said. It was Prowler. "Miller, I…" This had been the first time Prowler had seen Miller since he was paralyzed. He looked ok for it though, he was sitting in his wheelchair with a sling around his arm and bandages on his forehead. "Prowler, so are you going to do it?" Prowler was confused. "Do what?" "Overwatch." "Oh, yes, yep, Morrison wants us in charge of a sub-division to train for missions a lot like this one." "I see, that sounds rather great. Sort of an Overwatch…Wilderness…League." "Owl?" "Yes, that's got a ring to it." Miller said with a nice, happy feeling to it. "Look, Miller, I am so sorry…" "Clarkson, you don't actually think it's your fault, do you?" "Well, if I had done something different…" "Then where would you be?" Prowler thought for a minute, he didn't realize how lucky the two were to both be alive. "Oh, well…" "It's fine, I was about to put in the rest of my years in the army as a commanding officer, my life of fighting was practically over." "I see." Prowler saw some paper, pencils and pictures on the table where Miller was sitting. "So, what're you writing?" "Oh, a letter to my family, just telling them how much I love them and that I won't be home for a while, you know." "I didn't know you had a family." "Yep, a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter." Miller pulled a folded slip of paper out of his pocket and gave it to Prowler. He unfolded it and saw a picture of Miller, his wife, and daughter. His wife had shorter red hair, and his daughter had long gingery hair, and seemed to take her looks from her father. "How're they doing?" Asked Prowler. "Quite nicely they've said. My wife Brianna said she got a new job as a housekeeper, and my daughter, Emily said she just got herself a girlfriend." Prowler smiled a bit. "That's great for letting your child date who she wants." "Yes, she could quite possibly go on a killing spree and I'd still love her." "Aw, I wish I had a motive like you." "Do you have a family?" "Not really, my parents live in Denver, and my girlfrien… actually I won't even call her that, my acquaintance who lives in my house more than I do, not for long though, but I'm only 19, I really have no interest in that stuff yet." "Never say never Axl." "What do you…" "Don't think I didn't see the way you were looking at Fernando." Prowler didn't know what to say, nothing he said would be in his favor. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Prowler cracked a smile. "Thanks. You going to tell your family what happened?" Asked Prowler. "I think, I'll delay that." Miller grabbed a picture from the desk and showed it to Prowler. It was a group photo they had taken with all the revolutionaries, Mondatta, Miller standing on two legs, Hansen, Morrison and Prowler. "I'll send them this, let them know we're ok."


	22. Chapter 22

"E-Emily?" Asked Miller. The two were looking at each other. Everybody else was just as surprised as they were, except Prowler who was grinning. He knew she looked familiar, and it took finding a framed photo of his family on Miller's desk to jog his memory. "I…I th-thought, but…wait…" Miller got closer and hugged her, tight. "You think I wouldn't recognize my own daughter." Emily started crying in his arms. "They…they said you died in a helicopter crash." "They did?" Prowler stepped up. "Three helicopters left the ground, two crashed, afterward there was no way to identify who was on which chopper. Falsely marking a file as KIA was better than falsely marking it as MIA." He said. "Well, how's your mother?" Asked Miller. "She's fine, kind of heart broken, missing you." "I see. I'm sorry I left, it's just…I couldn't keep you safe and be with you at the same time. And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you'd gotten hurt when it was because of me." Prowler smiled. "Sub-Zion at its fullest." He thought. Emily started crying a bit more. "No…it's…it's okay. You wanted to keep me safe and…" The two embraced each other. "I love you so much." She said. "I love you too Pumpkin." Pumpkin, the name Miller gave his daughter for her orange hair. When he called her this, Emily knew, this was her father. Death could take away Emily, or Henry, or both in the next hour, and Emily would just be glad to see him this one last time. The other Overwatch agents were very happy for Emily, especially Tracer. Prowler walked toward the door. "Come on, leave them be, I'll show you guys around." He whispered. He got all the other agents to let a father reunite with his daughter. Miller took Emily out onto a private veranda. With a nice view of the ocean. "Emily, I am truly sorry I couldn't be there as a father for you." Emily looked at him. "It's…it's ok…I…I know, you couldn't come back." Miller looked out into the sea. "Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked. "Yeah." "I remember when you were 10 and we took a trip to the seaside and a crab got into our picnic basket, scared the bloody breath out of you." Emily laughed at remembering that. "So, what've have you been up to for the past decade?" Miller asked. "Well, I've been a freelance graphic designer for a while." "Really?" "Yeah, I wanted to go to medical school, but I couldn't because of…Oh my gosh!" "What? What is it?" Miller looked worried for Emily. "Your grandson! I forgot to tell you about him." Miller was shocked. "I…I have a grandson." "Yeah, I got a sperm donation about four and a half years ago. Here let me pull out." Emily pulled out her wallet and got out a piece of paper, accidentally slipping another one free onto the floor. "Oh, let me get that for you." Said Miller. He grabbed the slip of paper that fell on the floor, and saw what it was. "The picture from Escolta Grande?" The one he'd sent his family before he joined Overwatch. "Oh, yeah, Mom gave it to me once I moved out, said I could really use it." Emily looked at it closer, and then saw something. Prowler was in the picture. That's how she thought he looked familiar, because she had held him close for years. "Oh, it's Axl, i didn't realize that." Said Emily. "Heh, yeah, I remember way back when. So, my grandson?" "Oh, right." Emily showed Miller the picture. It was of her and Tracer with a young, cute, ginger haired toddler in the middle. "Oh my goodness, he's beautiful, what's his name?" Asked Miller. "Henry."


	23. Chapter 23

Prowler was on a different veranda on the other side of the ship, where he watched over the work happening on the Aircraft carrier. Tracer and mercy walked onto the deck. "Hey, how you doing?" Asked Mercy. "Oh, I'm great, just taking it all in." Said Prowler. "Yeah, it's quite amazing isn't it?" Mercy said. Tracer nudged Mercy to get to the question. "Um, Prowler, we found something, and I hoped you could give us an explanation." Prowler turned around. "Ok, shoot." Mercy spoke softly, slightly scared. "In, your medical file…under…well, it…" Tracer spoke up. "It says your insane." "Really?" "Yes, and we were wondering…just…why?" Prowler turned back out to look at the sea. "You ever been through hell?"


	24. Chapter 24

"When I was 17, I finally got my parents to give me the go sign to let me take the SEAL test. I went into training, and then came BUD/S, you familiar with that?" "No." Said Tracer. "BUD/S is a Basic Underwater Demolitions course for SEALs. Basically, it's about as hard as the SAS qualification test. Some may say harder. The secret to BUD/S is under a rock. And in BUD/S is hell week. Hell week is a mental fitness test to see if you have the brain power to be a SEAL, you're physically working for five and a half days with less than four hours of sleep. I had done the Physical Fitness parts to death, but here, it was mayhem. I saw so many great soldiers walk away. For me, I was basically hanging on the edge of a cliff. But once I went halfway, there was no turning back." "So did you do it?" "Yep, barely though, I had major mental problems after that. I went through the rest of BUD/S trying to hide a sort of PTSD, thinking about everything that I did to get there, made me uncomfortable. And I eventually finished BUD/S and became one of the top combat medics on the west coast. But then at graduation, one of the officers came and talked to me. He said that in a computer crash, one of the files on it had been corrupted, and by one of them, he meant mine. He couldn't let me be a SEAL. I'll tell you, you couldn't imagine the anger I felt that day." "So then what?" "I got on a motorcycle, went the wrong way on a one way road and woke up in a straight jacket in an asylum." "Oh my gosh!" "They were worried I had major PTSD and anger issues from all the training, like some veterans do. But a straight jacket wasn't going to stop me. Any time I could, I'd be working, get out of the straight jacket and go running, pushups, anything. Back in, I'd still do ab workouts, trying to get out, trying to become a SEAL again." "And…" "The Naval Officer that has given me the bad news came, saw what I was doing, and decided, against all protocol, and pulled some strings to get me back in the SEALs. All I had to do was go through the first phase of BUD/S, including Hell week, and then just take a few tests to make sure I could still be a combat medic. And when I went through Hell week this time. It was like hanging on a cliff with a boulder strapped to my ankles. It was worse, but I somehow just kept on going. I wasn't going to just walk away from anything. So I got through Hell week, did all the tests, and was a SEAL. But then, that's when it got hard. I was basically in on Special Ed, and it didn't take long for word to get out about my time at the asylum, so it's not like any of the other guys wanted to be my friend. So I was a sort of 'modified' SEAL." "How so?" "I wasn't allowed to carry my own weapons on base, and armed guards followed me everywhere. I basically waved goodbye to privacy. They watched me everywhere, heck, I couldn't even go to the bathroom without them watching me. They'd watch me in my sleep. All because they were scared I'd do something that would end up getting another hurt. They would only let me train on the guards who had SWAT armor, but not on other SEALs, because they were worried i'd take it 'too seriously' or 'i'd do something I might regret'. And going off base was practically not an option because they'd follow me there too". Tracer and Mercy were filled with Sympathy. "Axl…that's…that's awful." Said Mercy. "So did you…you know…ever do something that you would…'regret'?" Asked Tracer. Prowler thought for a minute. "After a while I struck a deal with the guards that when they went out in public with me, they'd dress in casual and basically be undercover, watching me. It only made it better to not answer why armed guards were following me around, but I still knew they were there, and that didn't help. Then, one day, a building, I think it was a small hotel, caught fire, I was in the area, and I ran to help. I saw, and I heard screaming from inside calling for help. I ran into help them…but two of the guards wouldn't let me. They forced me to the ground and wouldn't let me go in, they wouldn't even let me get close. I remember yelling 'You fools! Let me get in there! Lives are at stake! I need to help them!' and they didn't say anything back. And then…it blew…and the screams…were no more. I could've saved them, I could've gone in, I could've gotten them out, I had the training, if not more training than the fire fighters. But those morons put their jobs before the lives of others, and I was paying the price, they stopped me from going in, from helping people, and…" Prowler stopped for a minute. "I…I took his knife, and impaled him in his abdomen. A move I almost immediately regretted. He would've died had there not been ambulances around. Everybody saw, and news came, and…" Prowler paused for a minute. "I was that close to being discharged. Everything I had worked so hard for had been nearly taken away in one swift strike." "Oh my gosh." "I had to pay a large fee and pay off the court, though luckily, they did sympathize with me and deducted some of the fees for my willingness to be a Good Samaritan. Then, an Officer came to me, said 'you can either take this mission, or go home.' And about two weeks later, I joined Overwatch." Tracer came closer. "Axl, that's tragic." "I'll tell you, I've ran miles in under six minutes, but I've never run faster than running away from the memory of my time with the SEALs." "Did anything like that ever happen again?" Asked Mercy. "Well…there was one time, Reyes was being a donk of course, he was telling me everything wrong about Owl, and, I had had enough of people telling me what I did wrong, over, and over, and over again. I lashed out at him, yelling at him. 'Ok, I get it, I did something wrong, you don't have to keep telling me, so beat it!' And when he didn't, I shot him in the femur." "Huh, I remember him coming into my office from that shot." Said Mercy. "Luckily, Morrison was on my side, Reye's ethics were always…questionable." Said Prowler. "I can imagine it must be hard for you, all of this." Said Tracer. "Well, of course. But Lena…" Tracer noticed something. The way Prowler said her name. Pretty much everybody said her name 'Leena' but he said it 'Leh-na' and she was wondering how he got to that. "…if you could go back and change the events of the slipstream, would you?" Asked Prowler. "Well…" "Don't tell me that'd you'd give up having some of the most amazing powers known to man just to go back to being an average pilot." Said Prowler. Tracer thought about it. "Well yeah, I don't think I would ever trade this, but, I mean…" "You miss some of the aspects of being a pilot, and dread some of the aspects of being an agent." It was almost like Prowler had read her mind. "How did you…?" "I know. Some would think that I wish I could go back and prevent that chopper from crashing. But nope, I prefer to look at the bigger picture, and I wouldn't have this any other way." Said Prowler, with a noticeable amount of confidence. "What…what are you getting at?" Asked Tracer, slightly scared. "I found something, you dropped it in the car last night while you were dozing, and now I know why you were up." "What?" Prowler pulled an envelope, and Tracer gasped. "Wait, Lena what is that?" Asked Mercy. Prowler walked over to Mercy and handed it to her and immediately left, gone like a shadow. Mercy opened it. "Lena?" Tracer was clearly a bit scared of what was in it. "Lena, you can't be serious!" Mercy yelled. Inside the envelope was somewhat of a blueprint for a serum. This serum's description said that it could, theoretically, completely erase all symptoms of Chronal Disassociation. "I'm sorry, it's just…it, it's been hurting like crazy lately, I haven't been sleeping, and I'm just remembering back when it didn't hurt as much, and I just want it to…" "Lena, after all the time and resources we've put into you, after all that progress, you're just going to quit?" "No! I…I still want to be a hero, just I, I want to go back to being a pilot, that's all." "And do what?" "What?" "I thought you said you wouldn't trade this for anything." "I did…" "Lena, we don't even know if this works, heck it could kill…" Tracer yelled at Ziegler. "I just want it to stop hurting!" Tracer slipped from yelling into sobs. Mercy realized how hard she'd hit her, and came closer, and hugged her. Tracer felt it relieve the pain a little. "I know, I know it hurts. I'm sorry. But like Prowler said, you have to look at the bigger picture. I mean, would you ever want to give up the ability of time travel for the ability to fly a plane?" "I…I…" "Shh, I know if hurts Lena. But…" Mercy remembered something from earlier. "Remember what Emily's dad said to her? 'I couldn't keep you safe and be with you' I believe it was." Mercy and Tracer embraced each other for a bit longer while Tracer cried. "What happened to the Lena Oxton I knew? Who decided to try and figure out her condition and become an asset to Overwatch?"


	25. Chapter 25

About two weeks had passed since then. The time in which that happened could be summed up real easy. The next morning, Tracer, Winston, Mercy, and Emily has all left Sub-Zion. Nobody saw Prowler after the talk he had with Tracer, and nobody really knew what happened to him, but Miller said it was "alright." Miller also let his daughter go with promise that she would see him in London sooner or later. The night before that, Emily had introduced her girlfriend to her dad after a decade, not that she needed much of an introduction though, but the three did have a nice bonding experience over dinner that night. Mercy helped out some of the medical personnel on the ships, and Winston made some major improvements to the ships engines and other systems, making them run much more efficient. Then, they all left. Miller gave them the promise that if Sub-Zion needed anything from Overwatch, they would reach out. Before they left, Tracer asked Miller what happened to Prowler. He said "You know Prowler is kind of like a snake. You don't know where it is, and if you're smart, you won't want to find it." Then he left. Back at the base, Mercy and Winston ran some checkups on Tracer to try and figure out what was hurting her so bad. But for the most part, they couldn't find anything, they just gave her some painkillers and hoped for the best. They helped her, but not by much. So after Emily had left back to London to take care of her child, Tracer began sneaking large amounts of alcohol onto the base. Alcohol wasn't illegal on base, they had a wine cellar, next to where Genji had set up his own little living quarters after failing to get out of the basement, but she was sneaking in hard stuff, like liquor and whiskey. She'd drink it in places where nobody could find her, sometimes her room, the bathroom, the balcony, outside, in a car, plane, or shuttle. Anywhere where she was out of activity's way, she'd drink, she'd drink until her blood alcohol content got dangerously high, she kept on thinking that it'd help, help more than the painkillers, but what she didn't realize is that was that when it stopped hurting, she really couldn't feel the rest of her body either. One night, she opened her fridge, took out the empty pizza boxes she had in there as a concealer, and pulled out a cord board box that she had all of her alcohol in and opened it. But only empty bottles. "Blast." She said. She put the boxes back in the fridge. Then she had an idea. She blinked out of her room and into an elevator and went down to the first floor. She blinked through the hallway until she found the stairway that lead to the basement and ran down to it. "Hey Genji." She said as she ran past him. Genji was napping on a couch next to a lamp he set up down there. She ran into the wine cellar. She blinked through the room at different places, looking for the best wines she could find. She eventually left with one bottle of white wine and three bottles of red wine. "Now, let's do a bit of wine tasting, shall we?" She ran through the base with the bottles, avoiding others as well as security cameras. She eventually got back to her room, went onto the balcony, put the bottles down, picked up a red one, cracked it open with her teeth, spat the cork out, and gave a cheers to the field in front of her. She drank the whole bottle faster than she could run a mile, with the Chronal accelerator and all. After that, she almost immediately went onto the next one. "You know, you really shouldn't do that." Said a voice behind her, it sounded familiar. She pulled out her pulse pistols and aimed them at him. Then she saw him. "Prowler?" She said. The wine must have hit her harder than she thought. She put away the pistols "What, what are you doing here?" She asked. "I figured I had some unfinished business here." He said. "Is this about Sub-Zion?" "It's as much about Sub-Zion as it is about you." Tracer thought. She remembered, Prowler had meant to recruit Tracer to Sub-Zion. "So, you in or out?" Asked Prowler. "Well, what would I be doing?" "That depends… you can either be our official link to Overwatch, follow us on saving hostages, coordinate efforts between us and Overwatch while still having your gig here. Or you can be a pilot." Tracer was hit with a wave of stress somehow. She still had the blueprints for the serum I her jacket pocket. She pulled it out. "Is that really an option?" Asked Tracer. "If I didn't let you in because of you not having your powers, what would Sub-Zion be?" He said. Tracer thought for a minute. She looked at the papers. "I'll do it." She said, ripping them up and letting them go into the wind. "So you're going to be Overwatch's connection, huh?" Asked Prowler. "Yep." "No more going back to your piloting job?" "Nope, I just need to…" she paused and smiled. "…look at the bigger picture." She picked up the three other wine bottles and dropped them over the edge."Well then, let's go see Winston and make it official, shall we?" Asked Prowler. "You haven't talked it over with him yet?" "No, he doesn't even know I'm here, I let myself in." Prowler said. Tracer chuckled. "Well let's g…" a major explosion was heard in Watchpoint.

[UPDATE]  
Hey, thanks so much for reading this far! This is the end of the first part, with a second one on the way. However I am going to be taking a short hiatus to write it up as well as take a break. I'll try to start getting the chapters out before August, but I can only promise it will happen before September. Again, thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all later.


	26. Update and Poll

Ok, you guys tell me. I've been hitting a real hard wall when writing the next section of Prowler. It has a really good idea on paper, but I'm having trouble executing it into writing that to me just feels lazy, and I know because I feel like I just want to get it over with. So you guys tell me in a review below. Do you really, really want to know what happens to Prowler? Before you have to make that decision, I'll give you some behind the scenes context.

So after I wrote Prowler, I took a short break and started writing the chapters on the next one, taking feedback from the one review I got on Prowler and using paragraphs for conversation similarly to how I did in Aquarius. I wrote out the first few chapters, which are probably the only ones I cared about. I eventually got to the point where I tried to make it more interesting with a new character, but… my gosh this is a terrible, terrible bunch of the story. I'm honestly going through the writers trouble that I see so much in other forms of media. And it's worse on me because I really, really prefer many, many other things to writing. Trust me, there's a chapter that talks about Prowler and Owl's involvement in the slipstream incident. But if you compare it to, say, Prowler in the King's Row uprising, or the friendship between Prowler and Tracer, or even Miller being Emily's dad (I honestly thought I'd hit at least something home with that, but I haven't seen any positive or negative reviews to that, so… guess it's just like any other Fanfic), it was just so poorly written, and not even vital part of the story. I felt so bad about it, I took a break from it and am still on that break, debating on what to do with it. [If you don't want to read a ton of background info, just skip to the last paragraph]

There was another idea that popped into my head, this idea became Aquarius, the Overwatch romance I wrote. Here's where things got tough on me. I had a bit of fun writing Aquarius, maybe a bit more than I should have. Then I took another break after writing it.

But let's compare Aquarius and Prowler. Prowler has 25 chapter ranging in length, a set of original characters slipped into the Overwatch canon in a way that it works. Scenes are meant to have action, mystery and a diverse story that jumps back and forth in time so you can put together the story like puzzle. Aquarius is a short story of nine chapters, while longer than Prowler's, end up making a shorter story. It has only characters made by Blizzard, though slightly altered. It's kind of a little mermaid story, or something. It's a real definition of a fanfic, and the thing is, I'm not lesbian, so I wasn't really writing it for my own enjoyment, despite how cute I think the overall product came to be. Things that both have in common is a sense of emotion, one is the emotion that comes with romance, the other with war. Both should be very impactful… but.

I spent significantly less time on Aquarius than I did Prowler. However, Prowler just doesn't seem to be doing as well as Aquarius. To why I think is what you guys actually want. Fanfiction at its core is really just a bunch of teenagers obsessed with angst, romance, depression, and other High school things. (This isn't an observation, I too am in high school) But why Aquarius is doing better boils down to the fact that literally half of Overwatch's fan base is shipping, and fanficiton has a ton of teenagers that want to see that.

While I do like how Aquarius ended up in the end, I mainly wrote it thinking a couple others would like it, and clearly I was right. This is actually true for another OW fanfiction I have. [If you don't want the summary, skip this paragraph]

It's a fanfiction in the canon Overwatch universe 80 years after the events of the game. It stars Tracer stuck in mad depression as she hasn't aged since 19 from Chronal disassociation. Everybody she loves is gone, even the youngest members of Overwatch. She gets into such a depressive state that she attempts suicide multiple times but fails as she finds an automatic emergency recall function in her Chronal accelerator. So she has to live in the depressed state for all eternity, craving the memories of her former friends. Sound messed up? Yeah it is. And I'm not the guy who would write something so dark and depressing like that, so why would I even think about posting that here? Because of the audience that Fanfiction has.

Prowler just doesn't belong on fanfiction, it's a story that would please people (like me) who are fans of both Overwatch, and also the story of, say, Metal Gear Solid. (Which is what I was going for with Prowler.)

I'll let you know this much. Most everything there is to know about Prowler as a character has been said and done. There isn't too many unanswered questions left in Prowler that will be answered in Prowler 2. Prowler 2's main focus is on a character who was mentioned several times in the first, but never appears, or at least our heroes trying to beat her. It really shows Prowler's way of fighting, how it's so much different from what some are taught in the conventional militaries across the world. And with a threat that can take out millions, Prowler has so much at stake, he really has to show he's one of the greatest heroes in the world. Are the blizzard characters in this one too? Yes, are they in it as much? Eh… it's alright. But yes, at the core, Prowler is too much of an original story to be successful here. So let me know in a review below, are you actually at all interested in seeing the next part of Prowler?


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